Today’s letters: ‘Don’t give up on us,’ Quebecers plead

‘Don’t give up on us,' Quebecers plead

Re: Who Would You Vote For In Today’s Quebec Election?, letters to the editor, Sept. 4.
By the time this letter is being read, a crucial decision will have been made with regards to Quebec’s economic and social stability. I was dismayed to see the number of letter writers in Tuesday’s paper who were anxious to bid adieu to Quebec. Please do not be so quick to throw out the baby with the bath water. The majority of Quebecers do not want to hold a referendum, they have no wish to separate from Canada. As a matter of fact, support for sovereignty is at an all time low. As a Canadian first and a Quebecer second, I urge you not to give up on us. Cynthia Jarjour, St. Lambert, Que.

A reading of recent Post letters, including the page on Tuesday, suggests the more west of Quebec, the more virulent the separatists. Adrian Boelen, Dorval, Que.

… but maybe the rest of Canada already has

My first wife was a Quebecer. Then she separated. And behold, there was peace in my land. Now if only Quebec follows suit. Colin Blackburn, Abbotsford, B.C.

If given the chance by the Quebec electorate, I hope Pauline Marois makes good on her threat of another referendum on independence. She can tie her French knickers in a knot, hold her breath until she turns fleur-de-lis blue and threaten the rest of Canada with her demands. Failing that, she should learn to live in Canada — a country that has put up with her party’s spoiled brat pranks for far, far too long. Andy Neimers, Digby Neck, N.S.

Re: Sweet Heist For Thieves Who Stole $30M Of Maple Syrup, Sept. 1.
I am sure I am not the only reader who is connecting up the coincidental theft of a huge amount of Quebec sourced maple syrup and the potential rise to power of a politician leaning towards separation. In the event of a Parti Québécois victory, one outcome may be a currency based on maple syrup. After this theft, it looks like someone has taken a huge step in that speculative direction. Lynn Foster, Richmond Hill, Ont.

Wake-up call for Mulcair

Re: What’s Wrong Mr. Mulcair, Cat Got Your Tongue?, Rex Murphy. Sept. 1.
How can NDP leader Thomas Mulcair be vying to become prime minister, yet see no real problem with Quebec electing a separatist party? Pauline Marois’ policies will further discriminate against English Quebecers and make Quebec an unfriendly business environment. The economic effect will be felt nationwide.
As with his anti-oil sands campaign, Mr. Mulcair continues to pander to Quebec, where the NDP’s strength lies, while forgetting the rest of Canada. Rather than embracing a separatist government, Mr. Mulcair should have been reminding Quecbers they owe their luxurious entitlement programs largely to the generosity of federal transfer payments. Larry Comeau, Ottawa.

Great memories from 1972 …

Re: A Series Of Defining Moments, Dave Bidini, Sept. 1.
Forty years ago I was an 11-year-old kid at the Montreal Forum watching Canada against the Soviet Union in game one of the eight-game series. I was about 15 rows up in the reds at the goal line to Ken Dryden’s right. As I recall there wasn’t too much buzz about the series until it started, as the talk was that it was going to be an inconsequential exhibition series. We all know how wrong that was.
Thirty seconds into the game, Canada scored. I thought it was going to be a rout, as this wasn’t just an NHL team — Team Canada was made up of the finest players in the league, except for Bobby Orr.
Six minutes later, Canada scored again. Just as I started to feel a little sorry for the Soviets, they roared back and tied it up. After the game ended 7-3 for the Soviets, a sense of shock and awe swept the Forum as we realized this was the start of the most historic hockey series ever.
Unlike the intended political message, “Je me souviens” on the Quebec licence plates will always remind me of that evening and our victory in that series. Leslie Baylis, Burlington, Ont.

Dave Bidini tells us that “all of Canada…believed that Canada would pulverize the Russians.”
Not quite all. Sports writer John Robertson, for one, predicted a Russian victory in the series. People who had played and coached against the Russians predicted a close series because they did know better. In August 1982, I met Wally Kozak on the street; Wally had played for Father Bauer’s national team. When I spouted the conventional wisdom, that Canada would beat the Soviets handily, he replied: “You, and this whole country, are in for a shock. I have played against all these Russians. They are superb.”
In subsequent years we saw NHL club teams regularly spanked by their Russian counterparts, demonstrating the great depth of Russian hockey. To Hockey Canada’s credit, they did learn, and so did the NHL, and as a result Canadian hockey has never been better. We now understand that lots of countries can play “our” game. Jim Jordan, Stouffville, Ont.

… but the year had its downside, also

Like most Canadians, I was delirious with excitement when Paul Henderson managed to score with only seconds remaining in the final game of the 1972 Canada-Russia hockey series. But after learning years later about the intentional slash by Bobby Clarke to one of the best Russian players, Valeri Kharlamov, breaking his ankle, I never again felt the same way about the series. For me, that incident forever tainted the victory. George Parker, Cobourg, Ont.

Re: An Amazing Year, But Only In Retrospect, George Jonas, Sept. 1.
In his otherwise fascinating retrospective on 1972, George Jonas did not mention that it was the bloodiest year of the Vietnam War. This fact is easily overlooked in the West because the Americans completed the withdrawal of their combat troops that year and U.S. casualties were therefore relatively light.
However, emboldened by the departure of U.S. ground troops, the North Vietnamese launched its massive Easter 1972 offensive. The ensuing battles raged for most of the remainder of that year before the South Vietnamese were ultimately able to drive them back with the assistance of massive U.S. air power. The result was a monstrous bloodbath for the armies of both North and South Vietnam and the hapless civilians caught up in the fighting, which even exceeded the slaughter of Tet in 1968 or the climactic battles of 1975 that preceded the fall of Saigon.
While Americans undoubtedly suffered grievously in Vietnam, the Vietnamese themselves underwent an altogether different magnitude of suffering during the course of that ghastly conflict and indeed during the decades of communist retribution that followed. As such, I think it deserved a mention in Mr. Jonas’ otherwise excellent piece. Paul Higgins, North Vancouver, B.C.

Gender differences

Re: New Bic Pens ‘For Her’ Draw Online Ridicule, Aug. 30; Sydney Anglicans Ask Brides To ‘Submit’ To Their Husbands, Sept. 4
A professor at Queen’s University says “gender-specific products are acceptable if their unique function is directly related to an anatomical difference between the sexes.” In another story, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney is mocked for stating that “it’s better to recognize that men and women are different, that we have, at certain points, different responsibilities.” He is right. Lionel Albert, Knowlton, Que.

Eastwood’s words made their day

Re: Line Of Fire; Despite What The Critics Say, I’m Still A Big Fan Of Eastwood, Michael Higgins, Sept. 1.
I really don’t know where the Republican sense of humour has gone. Maybe it never existed. Good old Clint Eastwood almost outdid Mark Twain in his speech at the Republic convention last Thursday. I enjoyed every minute of his performance. His delivery might have been better, but he “made my day,” in a manner of speaking. By the way, at 82 Mr. Eastwood is not really “old”; he’s just more mature than most of you kids. R.A. (Bob) McDougall, Mississauga, Ont.

After watching Clint Eastwood share his thoughts at the Republican convention, I think the pundits are missing the point. He struck me as speaking like a real American in an entertaining, off-the-cuff sort of way. He spoke of the view from the Republican man in the street who faces hardship daily instead of the Democratic rhetoric that Americans have come to accept on faith. Jeanne Holden, Cornwall, Ont.

Clint Eastwood’s speech reminded us why most actors require directors and producers. If left alone, they might just end up talking to an empty chair. Douglas Cornish, Ottawa.

Just who are Canada’s ‘workers’

Re: Saluting The Country’s Workers, Bob Blakely, Sept. 1.
I am always irritated by the reference to working people, since the phrase more often than not seems to imply that there are groups of people who do not work. And so, I would like to ask those who use the term working people to identify groups of non-working people. Are they doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers, small business owners, food or oil company executives? Are they struggling actors, professional athletes, or stay-at-home mothers?
Any elucidation in this regard might help me better come to grips with, and appreciate, the term working people. Alex MacMillan, Kingston, Ont.

Canada already had a Paul Ryan

Re: Why Canada Needs A Paul Ryan Of Its Own, Shaun Francis, Sept. 1.
Shaun Francis suggests that Canada needs a Paul Ryan. Why? A Republican (or conservative) administration has not balanced a U.S. budget in living memory and based on Mr. Ryan’s mathematics, none will anytime in the foreseeable future. But wait, Canada did have its own version of Paul Ryan and this man actually did balance the budget and lower the national debt. His name was Paul Martin and he was a Liberal. But then the electorate woke up and voted him out of office in favour of some free-spending Conservatives. John Seigner, Calgary.

Students need to learn the value of a good grade

Re: The Morally Complicated Tale Of Mr. Zero, editorial, Sept. 1.
Schooling accomplishes many things but its raison d’être is to impart learning. Three fundamental questions need to be asked of the Edmonton Public School Board. To what do they believe students should aspire if not to learn and demonstrate their learning by good grades? Second, if students do not have to demonstrate that they have learned, why should they go to school? Third, which of the principles of fair and appropriate assessment is the board adhering to by addressing the non-completion of assignments via behavioural remedies?
By removing the daunting possibility of failing, students have absolutely no reason to strive (or behave) whilst in school. The school board may want to note that the province of Ontario recently rescinded their no zero policy. Alan L. Edmunds, associate professor, Faculty of Education, Western University, London, Ont.

So let me get this straight. Teacher Lynden Dorval risks being fired for his “continued refusal to obey lawful orders.” His crime is refusing to give grades to assignments that have not been handed in. In other words, giving grades to something that does not exist.
Surely those that are requiring him to do so are guilty of inciting him to commit fraud. To comply with such direction would defraud students of the true self-respect that comes from completing a task and having it validated. Since marks are being inflated it further defrauds the taxpayer of knowledge of the real performance of their schools.
Finally, by coercing teachers into committing fraud, the school authorities are corrupting the moral and ethical standards of teachers. If by some obtusely perverted interpretation the order to give grades to non-existent assignments is lawful under Alberta’s School Act, then as Mr. Bumble protested, “the law is a ass — a idiot” and needs amendment. John Matthews, Edmonton.

Unfair to private colleges

Re: Harassment Alleged At Private Colleges, Sept. 4.
This story states that 47 complaints were made by students to Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities in 2010 and 2011, even though there are tens of thousands of students enrolled at these institutions. And none of the complaints have been proven. M. Desborough, Cobourg, Ont.

Labour crybabies

Re: RCMP Order To Land Plane ‘Political,’ Sept. 4.
As I read this article about the grounding of an airplane charted by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which was to “fly over Ottawa and Gatineau on Saturday with a trailing banner that read, in French, StephenHarperNousDéteste.ca (Stephen Harper hates us),” I must confess that a childhood response escaped me. My right knuckle went to my right eye and the words, waa, waa, escaped my lips. Poor babies. Is this what labour negotiations look like now? Karen Turner, New Westminster, B.C.

In the wake of a Grammy Awards ceremony that disappointed many, from Kanye West to the masses on Twitter lamenting the state of pop music, a historical perspective is key. Few are better poised to offer one than Andy Kim.